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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29168625">The Perfect Hiding Spot</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/HappyCannibal/pseuds/HappyCannibal'>HappyCannibal</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adult Fear, Child Death, Hide and Seek, Not Happy, POV First Person, POV Third Person, Sorry Not Sorry, missing child</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 11:35:31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,965</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29168625</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/HappyCannibal/pseuds/HappyCannibal</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A game of hide and seek goes wrong.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Perfect Hiding Spot</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written in 2020 for a class.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“How about King of the Hill?” Johnathan piped up, raising his hand like we were still in school.</p>
<p><br/>
“Naaaah. We played that the other day,” Bobby said with a swipe of his hand. “’Sides, Mom got mad when she caught us climbing on the junk pile. Said it was too dangerous.”</p>
<p><br/>
“I didn’t see anything dangerous in the pile,” I grumbled into my hand as I dragged my stick against the ground, doodling. Bobby sent me a look with a hissed “<em>Sam</em>!” and I shut up.</p>
<p><br/>
The rest of us sighed. It was the second week of summer vacation and it already felt like we ran through everything possible we could do. Me, Bobby, Kate, Dan, and Johnathan were sitting in the old junk lot trying to figure out how we should spend out weekend. We already wasted <em>hours</em> just talking. Daylight was wasting and we had to be back home before the streetlights came. I huffed and continued to draw in the dust with my stick.</p>
<p><br/>
“Hmmm…What about Hide and Seek?” Kate said. My head shot up. “That’s something we’ve haven’t played in a while.”</p>
<p><br/>
“Nooooo!” I whined. I <em>sucked</em> at Hide and Seek. I was always one of the earliest ones found and I wasn’t a very good seeker, either. It was just a game I wouldn’t win how ever I played it. I didn’t want to spend my day just loosing over and over again.</p>
<p><br/>
“Oh, quit your whinin’,” Dan said. “You haven’t offered anything this whole time.”</p>
<p><br/>
“Yeah I have!” I protested, jumping up to my feet. Dan jumped up as well.</p>
<p><br/>
“Yeah, nothing good!”</p>
<p><br/>
“Why, yo-“</p>
<p><br/>
“Hey!” Bobby said, shoving in between us before Dan could feel sorry for himself. “Break it up. We’ve already wasted enough time as it is.”</p>
<p><br/>
“Let’s hold a vote,” Johnathan suggested. “All in favor of playing Hide and Seek, raise your hand.”</p>
<p><br/>
Dan and Kate’s hands shot up. Johnathan raised his hand as well. I looked over at Bobby and he gave me a small shrug and raised his hand as well. I threw down my stick and crossed my arms. </p>
<p><br/>
“Well if we’re playing, Bobby’s seeking.” I said. If there was one person almost as bad as me when it came to Hide and Seek, it was Bobby. He couldn’t be quiet enough to hide if it would save his life and he was on the slow side of seeking. If I had to play this stupid game, I was going to make him suffer. Bobby huffed and rolled his eyes. </p>
<p><br/>
“Fine,” He said. He started to walk towards the fence with us following. Bobby turned to face the fence and covered his eyes. “I’m going to start counting now.” We scattered.</p>
<p><br/>
“Count to 50!” Kate shouted as she ran away over to the junk pile. I scoffed. That was a pretty bad hiding place. Bobby would look there first. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dan slip off and disappear somewhere by a pile of branches. I could care less about where he was hiding. I need to find my own spot.</p>
<p><br/>
“16…17…18”</p>
<p><br/>
I still had some time but I was already feeling the panic start to set in. I stopped for a second to scan the area for a good hiding place. I spied an old cabinet on the other side of the lot. I began to ran over but out of no where, Johnathan raced ahead of me. He got there just before I did.</p>
<p><br/>
“Hey!” I angrily whispered, tugging on his arm as he started to climb inside. “I saw it first!”</p>
<p><br/>
“I <em>got</em> here first!” Johnathan whispered back, snatching his arm back. “Go hide somewhere else.” He closed the door on me. I quickly spun around, full on panicking. I really didn’t want to lose in a dumb way by just not finding a hiding spot.</p>
<p><br/>
‘<em>What do I do?</em>’ I thought as I frantically looked around, groaning a bit under my breath.</p>
<p><br/>
“…32…33…34…”</p>
<p><br/>
‘<em>Ah ha! There!</em>’ A light blue container sat on the far side of the fence, the door hanging open a little bit. It was perfectly out of the way of the other hiding places. I quickly ran over to it and nudged the door open some more. It made a horrible noise but Bobby shouldn’t have been able to hear it over the car noises from the street.</p>
<p><br/>
 “…40…41…42…”</p>
<p><br/>
I quickly climbed inside and closed the door behind me using the little grip inside the door. It latched with a click. The shelves reminded me of the fridge inside our kitchen a little. There was no way I would be the first one found this time. My hiding spot was perfect if maybe a little cramped, warm, and made it a little hard to breathe.</p>
<p><br/>
Maybe I’ll win this time.</p>
<p><br/>
 ---</p>
<p><br/>
“Aw man! I thought I had a good one.” Dan grumbled as I pushed the slab of wood off his hiding spot.</p>
<p><br/>
“Better luck next time, Danny Boy,” I said with a grin, giving him a hand to get up. I looked behind me. Kate was found hiding in the junk pile. How she managed to slither in there was beyond me but I guess being small helped. Too bad her hiding spot was unstable and full of metal parts that clanged. Johnathan took me a bit but Kate pointed out the corner of his red shirt sticking out of a door of an old, wooden cabinet. Dan took me longer but with the others’ help, he, too, was found. I will willingly admit that I sucked at Hide and Seek, especially when it came to looking for others. I just didn’t have the knack. Neither did Sam. Maybe it ran in the family. But it looks like Sammy was going to win for once.</p>
<p><br/>
“Huh,” Dan said, looking at us. “You haven’t found Sam yet?”</p>
<p><br/>
“Surprising, right?” Kate replied, excitedly bouncing in place. “She’s never went this long before hidden. Maybe her luck has finally turned!”</p>
<p><br/>
“Let’s all look for her. There can’t be too many places she could be.” I said. We scattered and began looking around the lot. Man, she was really good this time around. I looked forward to congratulating her. I guess we all were because after a few minutes, we just started to call her name.</p>
<p><br/>
“Sammy!” Johnathan yelled. “Come on out!”</p>
<p><br/>
“Saaaaaaammmm!” Dan hollered, only to get a “Not so loud!” from Kate. </p>
<p><br/>
I too called her name. The excited feeling we felt about my little sister finally winning a game of Hide and Seek was slowly evaporating the longer we looked. Something didn’t feel right. I kept looking around, calling her name. My chest felt heavy and my head was starting to hurt. I stopped beside the old fridge and crossed my arm, chewing my lip.</p>
<p><br/>
This was no longer funny. </p>
<p><br/>
Dan, Johnathan, and Kate walked over to me, worried looks on their faces. Kate looked like she was about to cry.</p>
<p><br/>
“We can’t find her.” Dan said in a small voice. A glow suddenly shined over us. We looked up and saw the streetlamp come on. One by one, the lights lit up the street, making our surroundings brighter. In our searching, we didn’t even notice how dark it had gotten. It was time to go home. </p>
<p><br/>
“We gotta tell our parents,” Johnathan said. “We gotta find Sam.”</p>
<p><br/>
 “But we’ll get in trouble!” Dan protested. I rounded on him and used my growth spurt to tower over him. He shrunk back.</p>
<p><br/>
“We’re going. To find. My litter sister.” I growled out. He nodded, tears in his eyes, and ran towards his bike. When he left, the others rushed to their bikes as well to go home. When it was only me left in the lot, it felt like I was a deflated balloon. All the energy had left me. I walked over to my bike, wiping my eyes. On the way home, I thought of how I was going to break it to my parents I lost my little sister.</p>
<p><br/>
 ---</p>
<p><br/>
“<em>Samantha!</em>” screamed Nathan as he walked around the junk lot, voice thick with emotion. “Sweetie, where are you?!”</p>
<p><br/>
Usually, the only people who visited the junk lot were young children looking for adventure and rowdy teenagers looking for trouble. Now it was swarmed with the kids’ parents and two police officers. Everyone had out their flashlights, searching the darkened yard and its surroundings as the minutes ticked by. When Bobby got home with a look of utter despair and crying without his little sister, Helen and her husband Nathan immediately knew something was wrong. He told them, while playing in the junk lot, Sam went missing. Leaving their son in the house, they raced to the lot, calling 911 on the way. As they began their search of the area, they were gradually joined by the others. </p>
<p><br/>
“Did you check across the street?” David, Jonathan’s father, asked Anne, Kate’s mother, as she walked over to where he was standing. She ran a frustrated hand through her long loose hair as she shifted her weight to one side.</p>
<p><br/>
“Yes, for the fifth time!” Anne snapped. She closed her eyes and sighed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be snapping at you. This isn’t the time nor place.”</p>
<p><br/>
“No, it’s understandable,” David replied, rubbing Anne’s arm. “Sam’s basically our child as well. We’re all worried about her.” Anne gave him a weak smile before walking away, calling Samantha’s name. David sighed before going back to searching himself, walking away from the lot to check down the street for the umpteenth time. </p>
<p><br/>
Officer Jan shined her light around the area as she walked along the fence. It was her first month on the force and honestly, she didn’t think she would be spending one of her shifts looking around a junk lot. Although she did not at all mind being out so late looking for a little girl, she knew in her heart it was a wild goose chase. Officer Jan really felt for the parents. Lost in her head, the police officer didn’t fully register the edge of a light blue object her flashlight hit as she walked by. She glanced at it but went back to searching for any signs or clues about the missing Samantha, thinking nothing of what it might have been.</p>
<p><br/>
The hour was 1 am when Officer Joshua called for a pause in the search. Sam’s parents were reluctant to stop but everyone, even them, were fatigued. No results were wearing down on their moods and with everyone exhausted, their search would be negatively impacted. There was no use continuing the search in this state of mind and body. Still, stopping hurt.</p>
<p><br/>
“So far we have found no clues nor leads on where Samantha might be,” Officer Joshua said once everyone had gathered. Helen started to break down crying, clenching her husband’s chest as he held her. “With how dark it is, we should call it a night and resume the search in the morning.”</p>
<p><br/>
“Just where can she be?” Dan’s mother, Oliva, demanded. “She’s a six year old girl! It’s not like she can just hop on a bus and leave town. She has to be <em>somewhere</em>!”</p>
<p><br/>
“But we’ve checked everywhere,” Luke, her husband, countered.</p>
<p>Officer Jan widen her eyes as something dawned on her. She knew what that blue thing she saw was.</p>
<p><br/>
“No, we didn’t!” She said. “I remember now. There was something at the far end of the fence. It’s out of the way but bright blue in color. It might have been an old model refrigerator.” Helen gasped, a whispered but anguished “<em>No</em>.” on her lips.</p>
<p><br/>
They all ran towards the refrigerator. </p>
<p><br/>
Grabbed the handle. </p>
<p><br/>
And opened the door.</p>
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